**FILE**This a May 20, 2004, file photo of heavy metal band Damageplan guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, right, and bass player Bob Zilla during a May 20, 2004 concert in Amarillo, Texas. Abbott was killed in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004, when a gunman charged onstage at a packed nightclub and opened fire on the band and crowd. (AP Photo/Ralph Duke, File) A MAY 20, 2004 PHOTO

In the outrage over the senseless murder of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, 38, in a Columbus, Ohio, nightclub on Wednesday by a man who charged the stage and shot point-blank at the band and crowd before being shot dead himself by a police officer, less attention has been paid to the former Pantera member's extensive musical influence.

Though hardly a household name, Abbott, who was on tour with his new band, Damageplan, played guitar with a rare intensity that brought together virtuosity with deep-rooted Texas blues riffs. So it's appropriate that the people hit the hardest by the news were not only the band's hardcore fans but also fellow musicians who recognized Abbott not just as a bearded heavy metal icon but a maverick in a field that was used to stagnation.

"He was certainly one of the most influential guitarists of his particular generation," said Brad Tolinski, editor in chief of Guitar World magazine, in a phone call from his New York office. "He played it straight up and wasn't influenced by the trends. I see Pantera as the bridge between the thrash music of bands in the late '80s like Metallica and Megadeth and the nu- metal of today, whether you're talking about Linkin Park or Disturbed."

In an emotional statement posted on the band's Web site, drummer Lars Ulrich of San Francisco band Metallica, concurred. "Darrell and his brother (drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott) were the cornerstone of musical adventures that were always groundbreaking, pushing boundaries, challenging to themselves and to their fans, respected by their peers and always true musicians' musicians," he said. "Today the rock world is worse off because of this untimely and senseless waste."

The police identified the dead gunman at the Alrosa Villa Club as Nathan Gale, 25, of Marysville, 25 miles northwest of Columbus. The other victims of the shooting were identified as Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, 40, a bodyguard for the band; 29-year-old Erin Halk, a club employee; and concertgoer Nathan Bray, 23. Two others were wounded in the crowd of about 300, including Chris Paluska, a member of the band's management team who was serving as tour manager, and John "Kat" Brooks, the band's drum technician.

Police are still looking for a motive for the killings, but witnesses claimed they heard Gale, an auto mechanic, accuse the guitarist of being behind the split of Pantera. People who had known the ex-Marine in his hometown of Marysville described him as an unstable man who once asserted that Pantera had stolen his song lyrics and even his identity.

The shooting happened exactly 24 years after John Lennon was shot to death outside his New York apartment building by a deranged fan.

"I can't for the life of me understand why someone would do this," Ozzy Osbourne, who had toured with Pantera several times, said in a statement. "My heart goes out to Dime's family, his fans and the other innocent victims who were killed in this senseless tragedy. It's just terribly, terribly sad."

Guitar World magazine recently named Abbott, who was born in Dallas, Texas, one of the Top-10 heavy metal guitarists ever, alongside Eddie Van Halen and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. "People saw him as this troglodyte but he was very clever," Tolinski said. "He was in complete control."

"When you think of '90s heavy metal or hard rock, Pantera is one of these seminal bands," said Tom Calderone, MTV's executive vice president. "They are quoted today as influences by many bands. Hard rock has lost a legendary guitar player."

Ironically, former Pantera singer Phil Anselmo recently posed for the cover of the United Kingdom music magazine Metal Hammer holding two knives, one with a reflection of Abbott's face on it. In the accompanying interview, published two weeks before the nightclub massacre, he told the magazine, "(Abbott) deserves to be beaten severely."

While no official statement has been issued since the shooting, sources close to Anselmo, who now leads Superjoint Ritual, say he is "devastated" by the news.

On Thursday, Abbott's fans held a candlelight vigil at the Machine Shop in Flint, Mich., where Damageplan had been scheduled to play.

Damageplan's premiere album, "New Found Power," which was released in February by Elektra, was produced by Abbott and his drummer brother. The other band members are vocalist Patrick Lachman and bassist Bob Zilla.

According to the slain guitarist's brother, who was onstage at the time of the attack, Abbott's influence extended far beyond his work on the frets.

"With all his greatness and accomplishments on the guitar, Dime will be missed more for his giving personality, charisma, caring for others, love and most of all his heart -- twice as big as the state of Texas," Vinnie Paul Abbott said in a statement. "Dime gave it all everyday to each and every one of us and our lives have forever been hollowed without him."